How To Watch German TV In The US

What is available and where to watch German TV in the USA?

One of the things that always seems to be a bit difficult is how to watch German TV in the US. It should be much easier to find German TV, movies, and shows. If you are lucky your cable or satellite provider offers it for an up-charge. It seems that across America there is a fairly good demand but on a local level, it probably is not enough to offer a free over the air service that can sustain itself through advertisement as the Spanish or Mandarin language channels do. As a matter of fact, the only one I could ever find free over the air was Deutsch Welle in the Seattle area. At this point, they offer some of their shows on PBS and this may be available in your area as well (DW).


Over the years I have found many ways to get German TV. However, most had a price tag attached and the ones that were free ended up needing a certain level of technical know-how to make it work and most people are not interested at that point. Lately, it has gotten much better and with just a few clicks or with a basic smart TV we can pretty much get anything we want with little to no effort.


Let’s start with the free options where to watch German TV and work our way to the “pay to view” options.

Most German TV stations offer some form of online content. In fact, some even offer a live stream of their program. One of the biggest problems with these offers is that they will block certain content due to some of the strict laws that govern content in Germany. Since it is free it’s something most of us can live with. Below is a list of the German TV stations that I have found with links to their streaming content. In case a link is not working, try to go to the main page and look for their online content. Some of these providers change their web addresses from time to time but this content is usually labeled Mediathek or Live. You are welcome to email us at [email protected] with any broken links and we will fix them as soon as possible.


TV Channels Online for Free:


ChannelLink Availability
Das Erste Das Erste Live &
On Demand
ARD ARD Live &
On Demand
ZDF ZDF Live &
On Demand
Arte Arte Live &
On Demand
Welt Weld.de Live &
On Demand
3Sat 3sat Live &
On Demand
My Spass My Spass Live &
On Demand
DW DW Live &
On Demand


Location Specific
BRBR/Bayerischer Rundfunk Live &
On Demand
MDRMDR/Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Live &
On Demand
NDRNDR/Norddeutscher Rundfunk Live &
On Demand
RBBRBB/Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg Live &
On Demand
SRSR/Saarländischer Rundfunk Live &
On Demand
SWRSWR/Südwestrundfunk Live &
On Demand
WDRWDR/Westdeutscher Rundfunk Live &
On Demand
HRHR/Hessischer Rundfunk Live &
On Demand
Dresden FernsehenDresden Fernsehen Dresden Live &
On Demand
Chemnitz FernsehenChemnitz Fernsehen Live &
On Demand
Elbekanal SchoenbeckElbekanal Schönbeck Live &
On Demand
münchen.tv-LivestreamMuenchen TVLive
münchen.tv-MediathekMuenchen TVOn Demand
Jena TVJena TV Live &
On Demand
Kiel TVKiel TV Live &
On Demand
Kultur MDSachsen Anhalt Live &
On Demand
Leipzig FernsehenLeipzig Fernsehen Live &
On Demand
LTVLTV Ludwigsburg Live &
On Demand
OeinsOeins Oldenburg Live &
On Demand
Offner KanalOffner Kanal Madgeburg Live &
On Demand
RegioTV StuttgartRegioTV Stuttgart Live &
On Demand
RegioTV SchwabenRegioTV Schwaben Live &
On Demand
RegioTV BodenseeRegioTV Bodensee Live &
On Demand
Rheinmain TVRheinmain TV Rheinmain Live &
On Demand
Sachsen FernsehenSachsen Fernsehen Live &
On Demand
TRP1TRP1 Passau Live &
On Demand
TV BerlinTV Berlin Live &
On Demand
TVATVA Regensburg Live &
On Demand
TVOTVO Oberfranken Live &
On Demand
FS1FS1, Austria Live &
On Demand
ORFORF Live &
On Demand
KIKAKIKAOn Demand